


good grief

by ghostsofheaven



Category: Ever After High
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Love Letters, Pining, briarashlynn in the background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:16:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostsofheaven/pseuds/ghostsofheaven
Summary: “every minute of every hour i miss you more.”in which ramona falls for a certain dancing princess.content warning for themes of overthinking, coming out & food
Relationships: Ramona Badwolf/Justine Dancer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	good grief

**Author's Note:**

> !! they/them pronouns are used for Melody, prince/princes are used for Cupid and xe/xem are used for Raven !!  
> hope u like this!!  
> much love <33 also follow me on twitter @daringcore
> 
> \- ghostsofheaven

good grief  
( a ramona x justine fic )

It had been exactly 14 days and four hours since Ramona Badwolf had seen Justine Dancer.  
She had been off on holiday because her family had called her back home for an ‘important royal matter.’

Although Ramona didn’t want to admit it, she missed Justine. A lot  
The dorm room was emptier, and Ramona missed seeing Justine’s dancing shoes on the door hook. She missed her messy closet and the way she stuttered when she was talking or when she got so excited, she talked fast. Ramona missed her voice and the way she rushed into the dorm at the end of a long day. She missed her.

Blearily, Ramona sat up in her bed. She looked over at Justine’s empty bed and sighed.  
She reached for her mirrorphone, grabbed it off of the wooden desk that sat next to her bed.

No messages from Justine. One notification from Blondie’s mirror blog, some messages from Poppy and Cerise, but no messages from Justine.

Sighing, she got out of bed and walked to her closet, threw out her outfit, and sat down at the vanity. Then, her phone pinged. 

She ran to her phone and pressed the home button. Her phone lit up.  
It was a message from Justine.

justine 🩰♥️:  
omw back rn! see you soon ^•^ <3 

Ramona text back immediately:

me:  
see you soon 

Ramona so longed to tell Justine how she felt. Then, an idea came to her mind.  
C.A Cupid. Prince would help her, surely.

••••

“Cupid!” Ramona shouted, Cupid looked up from where prince was sat, “Yes, Ramona?”  
“I want to… tell someone how I feel. How do I do that?” Ramona asked, suddenly feeling a lot more small and awkward.

Cupid broke into a smile, “How wonderful, I’ll give you some ideas!”

Three hours later, Ramona had what she needed. A love letter, declaring how she felt. She would give it to Justine when she arrived.

At exactly 3:30 pm, Justine Dancer arrived back at Ever After High.  
She was tired, but happy. Genuinely happy. She was glad to be back.

She danced through the hall and stopped at the stairs.  
She raced up the stairs and skidded down the landing.  
She burst through the door and shouted, “Ramona! I’m back!”

She saw Ramona’s head pop out from around the corner. A massive smile painted her face.  
“You’re back! You’re back! You’re finally back!” Ramona shouted, hugging Justine and jumping up and down.  
Justine patted her head lovingly, “I’m back, and I promise I won’t be away for long again.” 

Ramona, just realising what she did, pushed her arms outward awkwardly.  
She stepped back and said, “I’m really glad you’re back.”  
Justine smiled, “Me too.”

•••

It was 8pm, and Ramona had still not given Justine the letter.  
She was going to, she was. She just needed the right time. They were sat upon the little couch in the corner of their room, and Justine was on her mirrorpad, watching a dancing show.  
After a while, she fell asleep. Ramona felt her head resting on her shoulder.  
Ramona laughed lightly, fearing to move incase Justine woke up. Ramona became painfully aware of the letter that sat in her pocket.

Carefully, she removed the letter and opened it. 

She read it aloud in her head:

“Dear Justine,  
It has come to my attention that very possibly,  
I have fallen very much in love with you.  
I really, really, really think I have.  
This probably comes on too strong? Or something like that.  
Cupid help me write this. Can you tell?  
I’m really nervous.  
I suppose that’s all I have to say.  
I really am in love with you,  
I hope that’s okay.  
\- Yours, Ramona Badwolf.”  
She glanced at Justine’s sleeping face and put away the letter.  
“Tomorrow. I’ll tell her tomorrow.” She whispered to herself.  
Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.

•••

Ramona hated mornings. Mornings hated Ramona. She woke up, yawning.  
She smiled though, when she saw Justine still asleep on her shoulder  
Ramona whispered, “Justine, wake up.”  
Justine blinked wearily, rubbing her eyes and stretching outwards. 

The sun began to shine through the half drawn curtains, casting a warm glow upon both the girls and the room. “Good morning sunshine,” Justine smiled, holding her hand outwards, “Care to go for a morning stroll?” 

Ramona took her hand and let Justine lead her out into the dorm hall and down to the staircase.  
“So… how was your time away?” Ramona asked tentatively, holding Justine’s hand a little bit harder, almost like she was scared Justine would leave again. 

“It was… an interesting time. I missed you and school like crazy though, I couldn’t bare being away from you and I’m so sorry I didn’t call.” Justine said, avoiding eye contact.

“Don’t worry, I forgive you. You must’ve been very busy.” Ramona replied, a soft smile appearing on her face.  
‘The letter. This would be a perfect time.’ Ramona thought. As they turned left out into the common gardens, Ramona’s head was a mess of thoughts and worries. The one that lingered though was the ‘what if.’ Ramona had never been one to shy away from daunting tasks, but this, this was one she wanted to hide and run from. As the fountain and bench came into view, she decided to just go for it and hand Justine the letter.

“I love this fountain, and I love the way the sun light reflects off of it, it’s beautiful.” Justine said as they sat down upon the marble bench that faced the fountain and the bushes of roses that stood behind it.  
“Yeah,” Ramona said, looking at Justine’s face. “beautiful.”

“Do you remember the time Sparrow tried to push you into the fountain and he was the one who ended up going in?” Justine laughed, her eyes locking with Ramona’s.

They both blushed and turned away, “I remember it vividly,” Ramona laughed, “He’s always been wary of me after that.” 

A few moments of comfortable silence passed, and Ramona held the letter tighter in her hand, “Justine, I have something to give you.”

Justine turned around, “Yeah? What is it?” she smiled.

Nervously, (which was new to Ramona, she was never nervous, at least, never in public) she handed the letter to Justine, “I- uh, This is for you.” 

Justine eyed the letter curiously,  
“Thank you.” she said, opening it up.

The few moments of silence that followed after was agony for Ramona.  
Her mind was nothing but worrying and doubting.  
Usually, Justine was a fast reader, but this time it looked like she was taking her time with reading it.

She read the last part aloud, “…I hope it’s okay.” 

Then she burst into smile, pulled Ramona off the bench and began to dance down the garden path with such a bright smile on her face, that it made Ramona sigh with relief.  
“Okay? Of course it’s okay!” Justine said, walking back up towards her.  
Justine grabbed her hands and held them tightly, “I love you too, Ramona.” 

‘She loves me too. She loves me too!’ Ramona thought. 

Ramona lifted Justine up and swung her around, shouting, “You love me too! You love me too!” 

“Of course I do, it is quite hard not to to fall in love with someone like you.” 

“But… I was quite mean.” Ramona said, already doubting the words Justine had just spoke.  
“That was then, you’ve changed now.” Justine said, “plus, I know you’re sorry, you tell me everyday and then buy me chocolates for breakfast.”

Ramona smiled,“Ok then, would you like to be my girlfriend?”  
Justine laughed, “Of course I would, you silly wolf.” 

•••

Classes had finally started and all Ramona could think of was Justine.  
General Villany was too boring, so Ramona was doodling in her book. 

Raven looked over at Ramona, “Hey, Ramona? Are you okay?” 

Ramona looked up at where Raven was sat, “Yeah, I’m fine.”  
“Oh okay, you just looked a little spaced out.” Raven replied as xe hurried to write down the notes on the board (funnily enough, xe didn’t even want to be in General Villany but Headmaster Grimm wouldn’t let Raven drop it.)

Ramona’s mind kept on going back to the conversation that she had with Justine moments ago:  
“I don’t want to hide us, Ramona. I want to declare it to the school, if that’s okay with you?”  
“I don’t want to hide us either, but… what if someone hurts you?”  
“No one’s going to hurt me, I promise.”

Still, Ramona was worried.

•••  
The plan was to make an announcement at the dance tonight, the one Ashlynn and Briar were holding at the Red Slipper. 

Justine had just come out of Princessology, and truth be told, she was nervous.  
It was near the end of the school day, and all she wanted to do was get back to her dorm and rest.  
She wanted to watch a film on her mirrorpad with Ramona.  
See, the thing was, they didn’t have to tell anyone about them, but Justine wanted to.  
All her life she was told to hide her previous girlfriends away, to not tell the public about them, while her sisters were allowed to parade their boyfriends around. It wasn’t fair and she had decided to not hide any longer. She wouldn’t allow what society and her family expected of her to silence her true self.

Then, the bell rang, signalling the end of the school day. ‘Now, Justine thought, ‘to deal with the rest of the night.’  
•••

Ramona swore Justine had never looked more gorgeous. She was dressed in a golden ball gown, white ballet shoes decorating the hem of the dress. Ramona was wearing a simple red pouf dress, with white trainers ( because no one likes wearing heels all the time)

The dance room was surprisingly empty; only Briar’s closest friends had been invited it seemed.

Ramona spotted Melody Piper up at the DJ Booth, and gently nudged Justine, “Do you want to go up there and ask Melody if we can use their microphone?” 

Justine nodded, leading Ramona, from where they stood near the entrance, up the stairs onto the stage. 

Letting go of her hand, Ramona walked up to Melody, and asked them if at exactly 9:00pm they would give her the microphone. Melody said yes, and with that the party started and the purple lights above were turned on whilst the regular lights were dimmed slowly.

After two hours, Ramona had gotten rather tired of dancing and more and more fidgety with worry.  
Thought entered her mind only to grow and sprout into doubts and fears. Surely everyone here would be accepting of them, because they were of Briar and Ashlynn but there was always that ‘what if.’ It haunted her mind like a restless ghost, a never ending wail of worry and hurt.

She shook her head. This was a dance, for fairies’ sake, she was meant to be enjoying herself.  
She glanced at the giant watch clock that was hung upon the eastern wall and it read; 8:59pm  
One more minute. She looked over to were Justine was. Justine was talking to Ashlynn, so Ramona decided to squeeze past the back table and tap Justine on her shoulder, “Hey, it’s time.” 

Justine turned away from Ashlynn, a little shocked to see Ramona behind her, “It’s going to be fine. Shall I do the talking?” 

Ramona shook her head, “I want to talk too.”  
Justine’s eyes widened with surprise, but she nodded, “I’ll support you no matter what.”

•••

Holding hands, they walked up the stage stairs together. 

The microphone was small and warm in Justine’s hand. She looked at Ramona, almost a little scared.  
Ramona held her free hand to her chest and suddenly, Justine wasn’t feeling scared anymore.

Justine tapped the mic lightly and she could feel all eyes in the dancehall turn to her and Ramona.  
She felt so small, so powerless. She could feel Ramona’s hand on her’s again and she took a deep breath, “So… t-t-to start, very lovely party, thank you for inviting us. (Briar smiled at that) T-tonight, I’m here to say something. I- I don’t know h-how some of you will react, but me and Ramona both want to tell you all this.”  
Ramona could tell Justine was nervous because she was stuttering, so she stepped forward and took the microphone off her. She gave Justine a ‘it’ll be okay, i’ve got this.’ glance and stepped forward.

“Hi everyone, me and Justine have an announcement to make. We didn’t really have to tell you all this but me and Justine not wanting to hide how we feel. I suppose I should just come out and say it; Me and Justine are together. Like dating. Like girlfriends.” 

Ramona’s voice echoed ever so slightly as she finished her sentence.  
The small crowd of friends began to clap slowly, some cheered.

Relief and joy flooded through Ramona and she and Justine shared a hug briefly before they ran down the stairs and off the stage.

They were greeted with an overwhelming amount of support and love. Briar and Ashlynn were the first to congratulate them, “You’ve got courage.” Briar said, holding her free hand out in a thumbs up. Ashlynn simply smiled and thanked them for coming.

Ramona and Justine had never been so happy. Off they danced into the night, carefree and in love.  
When the clock struck twelve, they were stood upon the balcony that overlooked the dance hall, the pair watched as small figures danced below them, some leaving. Ramona held Justine in her arms tightly as the purple lights dimmed below them and Justine whispered:  
“Ramona, I love you more than all the dancing shoes in the world.”  
Ramona chuckled at that; “And I too love you more than anything.”  
“You’re the best girlfriend ever.” Justine murmured.  
“I think you’ll find that you are.” Ramona laughed.  
They held each other in blissful silence, and they were not afraid.  
•••  
“In love, there is no manual. No rules, nothing of that sort. It is a game one must play with fate. Finding true love is a once in a lifetime thing, just like a blue moon, but once you find it, you must hold onto it, for it is dear and precious.” 

The end (is just the beginning)


End file.
